Date of Award
Spring 2-18-2022
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
EdD Education Leadership, Management and Policy
Department
Education Leadership, Management and Policy
Advisor
Jill Patterson, Ed.D.
Committee Member
Jan Furman, Ed.D.
Committee Member
Margaret Hayes, Ed.D.
Keywords
care, teacher-student connections, special education students, organizational factors
Abstract
Through the theoretical lens of care, this qualitative case study explored special education teachers’ perceptions of how they exhibit care and key factors that support or threaten their enactment of care. Interview and lesson plan data sources were collected from six middle and high school special education teachers in a high performing New Jersey district and analyzed using a priori and descriptive coding strategies for thematic generation. Key findings were teachers perceived academic success as multifaceted, teachers perceived care as interactive, relational, and intentional. They identified organizational factors such as professional learning communities (PLCs) and leadership as supports for care and structural factors, including content-focused curricula and disconnect between general and special education teachers, as barriers to exhibiting care. Findings have implications for policy and practice discussions related to alternative assessments and their relation to teacher enactment of care. This study builds upon prior literature surrounding how teachers, in general, exhibit care from the lens of special education teachers.
Recommended Citation
Rebimbas, Lisa Vale, "Care Through the Lens of Special Education Teachers" (2022). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 2986.
https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2986
Included in
Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, Special Education and Teaching Commons
